Alcatel-Lucent CEO rules out deep job cuts: report

By IBT Staff Reporter On 01/02/12 AT 4:42 AM

(Reuters) -- Telecom equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent does not expect deep job cuts like those announced by rival Nokia Siemens Networks , Chief Executive Ben Verwaayen said in an interview published on Monday in French daily Les Echos.

There's no way we are cutting our staff by 25 percent, he said. We are in a different situation because we have quickly turned towards the network technologies of the future.

Nokia Siemens Networks, the world's second-largest maker of mobile phone network equipment, said in November it was axing 17,000 jobs, nearly a quarter of its workforce, to help save about 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) a year.

Verwaayen also reconfirmed Alcatel-Lucent's aim to generate cash flow in 2012. He added that the repatriation of cash from Chinese unit Alcatel Shanghai Bell is possible, but it's a long process.